Fish rock painting

Two ways to paint a fish rock

There are two approaches, and the rock decides which one to use:

• Fish on water: base coat the rock blue and paint a fish in the middle. This suits round or wide stones, and leaves room for bubbles, weeds and a second small fish.
• The rock is the fish: on a long, flat oval, paint the whole stone as the fish body and add the tail, fins and eye at the edges. It looks more three-dimensional, and the stone’s own curve does the shading for you.

Wash the rock and let it dry overnight before any paint goes on. For base coats, brushed acrylic craft paint is faster than markers; see acrylic paint for rock painting.

Easy fish painted rocks

Three or four colors, one big shape. Good first rocks for kids.

1. No. 01Easy

   Orange fish with bubbles

   Level

   Easy

   Tips

   Medium, fine

   Colors

   Blue, orange, white, black

   Rock

   Long oval

   1. Base coat blue.
   2. Paint an orange oval body and a triangle tail.
   3. Add a curved gill line, a white eye with a black pupil, and a few white bubbles.

   Markers for this design: a medium and an extra fine marker from the paint pens for rock painting list.

2. No. 02Easy

   Whole-rock goldfish

   Same fish, painted so the whole stone is the body.

   Level

   Easy

   Tips

   Medium, extra fine

   Colors

   Orange or yellow, white, black

   Rock

   Long, flat oval

   1. Paint the entire rock orange; two coats on grey stone.
   2. Paint a triangle tail at the narrow end and small fins top and bottom in a lighter orange or yellow.
   3. Add a big white eye near the front with a black pupil and a white highlight.
   4. Draw rows of small C-shaped scales across the body with an extra fine tip.

   Markers for this design: an extra fine 0.7 mm tip from our fine tip paint markers page, plus a medium tip for the base.

3. No. 03Easy

   School of minnows

   Repeat the fish shape small, all swimming the same way.

   Level

   Easy

   Tips

   Fine, extra fine

   Colors

   Navy, silver or white, yellow

   Rock

   Round or wide

   1. Base coat navy.
   2. Paint five to nine small fish shapes in white or silver, all pointing the same direction.
   3. Add a yellow dot eye to each.
   4. Flick a few thin curved lines behind them for movement.

   Markers for this design: rock painting markers in color, plus a white paint marker for highlights.

Koi fish rock painting

Koi are the most requested detailed fish design. They look best seen from above, curved into a C or S shape, on a dark blue or black pond.

1. No. 04Medium

   Koi seen from above

   The sketch shows the basic fish; for koi, curve the body and paint it seen from above.

   Level

   Medium

   Tips

   Medium, fine, extra fine

   Colors

   Navy or black, white, orange, red, black

   Rock

   Round or oval, smooth

   1. Base coat navy or black.
   2. Pencil a curved body: a long teardrop that bends into a C, with a split tail and two pectoral fins near the head.
   3. Fill the body white; two coats.
   4. Add irregular orange and red patches on the back, leaving white between them.
   5. Draw thin fin rays and a small dark eye on each side of the head.

   Markers for this design: rock painting markers in color, plus a white paint marker for highlights. For orange patches, see orange paint markers.

2. No. 05Advanced

   Two koi yin-yang

   Two koi chasing each other in a circle.

   Level

   Advanced

   Tips

   Fine, extra fine

   Colors

   Black, white, orange, gold

   Rock

   Round

   1. Base coat black.
   2. Pencil two curved koi head to tail so they form a circle.
   3. Paint one koi white with orange patches and the other gold or orange with white patches.
   4. Add fins, eyes and a few white ripple lines around them.

   Markers for this design: an extra fine 0.7 mm tip from our fine tip paint markers page, plus a medium tip for the base.

More fish rock painting ideas

1. No. 06Medium

   Striped clownfish

   Same body shape with three white bands.

   Level

   Medium

   Tips

   Medium, extra fine

   Colors

   Blue, orange, white, black

   Rock

   Oval

   1. Base coat blue.
   2. Paint an orange fish body and tail.
   3. Add three white bands: behind the eye, mid-body and at the tail.
   4. Outline each band in thin black, then add the eye.

   Markers for this design: black paint markers for the outlines, and medium rock painting markers for color.

2. No. 07Easy

   Puffer fish

   Make the body almost round and add spikes.

   Level

   Easy

   Tips

   Medium, extra fine

   Colors

   Sky blue, yellow, white, black, pink

   Rock

   Round, fat

   1. Base coat sky blue.
   2. Paint a nearly round yellow body with a tiny tail.
   3. Add short white spikes all round the edge and a few on the body.
   4. Paint a big eye and a small round pink mouth.

   Markers for this design: a medium and an extra fine marker from the paint pens for rock painting list.

Fish colors, scales and tips

Scales: draw rows of small C or U shapes, overlapping like roof tiles, starting behind the gill. Keep them a shade darker than the body, or white on a dark fish, and stop before the tail so the tail reads as a separate shape. Bubbles: three dots in a rising line, getting smaller, read better than many random dots.

Orange is the color fish rocks use most. The orange paint marker guide compares water-based and oil-based oranges, and white for koi and bubbles is covered in white paint markers.

Fish rock projects

• Aquarium jar: paint four or five small fish rocks and arrange them in a clear bowl with blue glass beads. Do not put painted rocks in a tank with live fish.
• Pond edge: sealed koi rocks look natural around a garden pond or a bird bath; pair them with turtle rock painting designs.
• Beach theme: combine fish with shells and sunsets from beach rock painting.
• Story stones: a fish, a boat, a sun and a wave on four small rocks make a storytelling set.

Fish in art, then and now

Fish are an old subject. Archaeologists call human-made markings on natural rock surfaces rock art (Wikipedia), and modern painters keep coming back to fish: Paul Klee’s 1925 painting Fish Magic, held by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, scratches fish, plants and figures into a dark painted ground (Wikipedia). A dark base with bright fish on top is the same idea on a rock. For more animals, see rock painting animals.

Last reviewed 2026-10-12. Specs and availability change; check the listing before you buy.